Calvin's parents go out for dinner and leave Calvin with Rosalyn. Calvin knows he's exhausted the patience of his parents and Rosalyn with his prior antics, so he adopts his alter ego Stupendous Man to cause trouble for his hated baby-sitter.
Tropes
- All for Nothing: The totality of Calvin's evening after his parents leave: He dresses up as Stupendous Man, wrestles with Rosalyn for a minute, runs outside, hides in his tree house for a few minutes, runs back inside, and gets in bed. Even if he had managed to get away with it, all he managed to actually gain from his antics were a couple minutes outside past his bedtime and the disruption to Rosalyn's evening. As it stands, he doesn't get away with it, and can't watch television for a week.
- Call-Back: Rosalyn's last babysitting session, which featured Calvin locking her outside for a few hours so he could have free run of the house, is referenced by Hobbes, and contributes to Calvin's concern over what she'll be like this time.
- Dead Guy on Display: Calvin fears that Rosalyn will put his head on a stake and put it up in the front yard as a warning to other kids she babysits.
- Didn't Think This Through:
- Calvin knows that both Rosalyn and his parents are fed up with him misbehaving every time they go out and leave him with a babysitter, and if he does it again there are going to be serious consequences. His solution is to dress up as Stupendous Man, hassle Rosalyn while in costume, and then go to bed in his pajamas. His Stupendous Man outfit is literally just a domino mask and cape, which his mom made for him in the first place, so his belief that people won't realize that it's him is bizarre even for someone as young and as imaginative as him.
- When Calvin's parents get home, his mom confronts him about his behavior during the evening. Calvin plays dumb, acting like he didn't do anything except read and go to bed. Of course, Rosalyn had already forced Calvin to write out a full confession of his prior antics a little earlier, which his mom produces. Why Calvin thought he'd be able to deceive his mom after that is anyone's guess.
- Overly Long Scream: When Calvin is told that he's going to be babysat by Rosalyn again, he starts screaming at the top of his lungs. He manages to keep one scream going for an entire four panels, during which his mom delivers seven sentences worth of instructions.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Once Calvin takes the mantle of Stupendous Man, Hobbes decides to turn in early and avoid the rush.
- Secret Test of Character: Calvin's mom employs this, giving Calvin the chance to explain how his night with Rosalyn went. Calvin fails twice, saying he behaved the first and dismissing his written confession as a lie the second.
- Shout-Out: After Calvin's mom sees through Calvin's lie about the confession he wrote, Hobbes calls him "Pinocchio".
- Stating the Simple Solution: Knowing that Rosalyn is going to be even less tolerant of his antics than usual after what happened last time she babysat him, Calvin is terrified of how the evening might go and isn't sure what to do. Hobbes suggests that they simply behave for a few hours. Calvin doesn't appreciate it, assuming he must have misheard Hobbes.
- The Teaser: The first strip of the arc has Calvin arrive home after school and getting tackled by Hobbes, a frequent running gag of the strip, which ends up having nothing to do with anything that happens the rest of the arc.
- Throat-Slitting Gesture: Calvin's dad, fed up with having to pay Rosalyn's babysitting rates due to Calvin's behavior, gives Calvin one of these on his way out the door as a final warning to toe the line.
- You Are Grounded!: Calvin gets his television privileges revoked for giving Rosalyn yet another hard time.
